Season 4, Episode 1. Let's time travel back to the 1920s! But first, we're going to revisit a vintage Exploress episode that explores something momentous that happened in the year 1920, when American women finally won the right to vote.

You can pre-order my novel, NIGHTBIRDS, wherever print, ebook, or audiobooks are sold! If you do, make sure to claim the exclusive Nightbirds pin by February 27th. If you order from One More Page Books, you'll get your copy signed and personalized AND get some special character cards as well. To find out more about it, have a listen to my other podcast, Pub Dates, where NYT best-selling author Amie Kaufman and I take you behind the scenes on our books' paths to publication.

Come see me on tour in the USA and Australia in February and March! You'll find the full schedule on my author website.

Season 3, Episode 28. Queen Elizabeth I ruled for 45 years as the Virgin Queen, Good Queen Bess, and Gloriana, and her reign is now referred to as the Golden Age, or the Elizabethan Age. Today we'll be hearing from Bess herself as she talks us through her top tips for a successful queenship. We'll learn about how she was able to reign as an unmarried woman, why she refused to marry at all, the many marriage proposals she rebuffed, her long time love for Robert Dudley, and how she created a cult of virginity to calm fears about succession. We'll also learn how important beauty and fashion were to her, how she leveraged portraiture to create her public image as a goddess, her fear of aging, how she dealt with gossip and slander, and why her gift for languages, rhetoric, and public speaking made her such a formidable politician.

Season 3, Episode 27. Survived. Join Henry VIII's sixth and final queen, Katherine Parr, as we explore what education looked like for women in Tudor England. We'll discover where girls studied, what subjects they learned, and how many of them could read and write. We'll also learn about the extraordinary life of Katherine Parr, and how she became the wife that survived by leveraging her education. She became the first Queen of England to publish her own book, educated her step-daughter (the future Queen Elizabeth I), promoted religious reform, made reading the most popular pastime for upper class Tudor women, and successfully navigated the dangerous political waters of Henry's court. Let's go traveling.

For this episode's show notes, including a transcript and tons of images, go to The Exploress website. To support the show, become a patron. To find out more about Elizabeth Norton's fanstastic work, check out her website. The music featured in this episode comes courtesy of John Sayles.

Season 3, Episode 26. In this episode, Queen Catherine Howard is going to be our guide as we explore all things sex for Tudor women. We'll walk through the era's expectations and understanding of a woman's virtue, how a lady might keep from getting pregnant should she choose to risk her reputation, and what happens if a woman gets pregnant out of wedlock. It's bound to be steamy, and…let's be honest…possibly dire.

For this episode's show notes, including a transcript and tons of images, go to The Exploress website. To support the show, become a patron. To find out more about Elizabeth Norton's fanstastic work, check out her website.

Season 3, Episode 25. What connects a sorceress, a murderess, a mistress and a French king? Let's find out in this special Halloween bonus.

For this episode's show notes, including a transcript and tons of images, go to The Exploress website. To support the show, become a patron. To find out more about Elizabeton Norton's fanstastic work, check out her website.

Season 3, Episode 24. Murder, mystery, and WWII code girls: oh my! Join me as I chat with Ellie Marney, the New York Times bestselling author of the new YA historical novel The Killing Code. Atmospheric, compulsive, and deliciously dark, it's the perfect book to kick off the spooky season, and it'll introduce you to a slice of women's history you might not know that much about. Ellie joined me to talk about the real-life female codebreakers who inspired her novel, as well as life for women in wartime D.C. in the 1940s.

To find out more about Ellie and The Killing Code, visit her website. For this episode's show notes, including a transcript and some fun links, go to The Exploress website. To support the show, become a patron.

Season 3, Episode 23. Like most royal women, Anne of Cleves - English king Henry VIII's fourth wife - didn't have much choice when it came to whom she married. It was considered her "duty" to honor the needs of her family and her kingdom over whatever her own might be. But what about everyone else - the non-royals? Did they get to pursue their hearts more freely? Let's take a walk with Anne of Cleves, who'll show us more about what love, courtship, and marriage looked like for women in Tudor England.

For this episode's show notes, including a transcript and tons of images, go to The Exploress website. To support the show and get more Tudor bonus content, become a patron. To find out more about Elizabeth Norton's fanstastic work, check out her website.

Season 3, Episode 22. Join me as I sit down with author Sylvia Barbara Soberton to talk about a Tudor queen's ladies-in-waiting: who they were, what they did, and what kind of impact they had on the women they served and the court at large.

As always, there are lots of ways to support the Exploress: tell a friend about the show, leave a review wherever you listen, become a patron, or have a browse over on my website. For more on Sylvia's book and her other work, check out her website.

Season 3, Episode 21. English King Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour, will take us on a journey through one of the most important jobs and greatest perils women faced in Tudor England: fertility and childbirth. We will explore getting pregnant, staying pregnant, and getting through the delivery ordeal in (we hope) one piece.

For this episode's show notes, including a transcript and tons of images, go to The Exploress website. To support the show, and get bonus Tudor content, become a patron. To find out more about Elizabeth Norton's fanstastic work, check out her website.

Season 3, Episode 20. Will the real William Shakespeare please stand up? The Shakespeare authorship debate started with a woman named Delia Bacon, and since then, thousands of anti-Stratfordians have become obsessed with using literary analysis and ciphers to search for hidden meanings within the Bard's plays, in a quest to prove that Shakepeare was merely a pen name. Names like Edward Vere, Christopher Marlowe, and Sir Francis Bacon have all been floated around as possible candidates for the real genius behind the quill, but one name is particularly intriguing – Amelia Bassano Lanyer. So, why are people so unwilling to accept that Shakespeare was … well … Shakespeare? Today we'll dig through the historical evidence behind the debate, learn about the life of Amelia, England's first professional female poet, and discuss whether or not she was the "Dark Lady" featured in Shakepeare's sonnets.

Thanks to my lovely supporters over on Patreon for bringing us this special bonus episode. If you want to help support the show, consider becoming a patron. You can also buy some merch, including a Ladycentric Timeline of Tudor England, at my store.